All Over Albany

Items tagged with 'Startup 2017'

Over the years we've had many good projects make the finals of the AOA Startup Grant. But after the judges have had the chance to hear the presentations, they usually come to a consensus quickly.

Not this year. Three very strong projects made their pitches at the College of Saint Rose Wednesday and the judges had a tough time settling on a winner. The post-presentation discussion was long and more than a little bit agonized. But they finally picked a winner -- in a split decision.

We got a short preview of what they'll have to say during a coaching session last week with John Dion, a professor of marketing at The College of Saint Rose, and the competition is fierce (but friendly). It'd be easy to see any one of the projects taking the prize.

We're now in the final stretch of crowd voting to pick of the finalists for this year's $2,500 AOA Startup Grant. Here are the five projects with the most votes as of Monday morning:

1. Bard & Baker: Board Game Cafe

2. Olive and June Floral Co.

3. Adirondack Barnwood Salvage

4. The Makeup Curio

5. Call Sheilah!

The top two have definitely built up a gap between them and the rest of the field. But a late push could among the other top-five projects could make things interesting.

Also: Crowd voting support is something the editors take into account when making their selection for the third spot in the finals.

The full leaderboard with vote totals is below.

Crowd voting ends this Wednesday, September 20 at noon! So there's still plenty of time of vote. And take a few minutes to look over this year's applications -- they're all posted online for you to scan. The applications and voting instructions are at the link above.

Crowd voting to pick two of the finalists for this year's $2,500 AOA Startup Grant began Monday, so we figured it'd be a good time to check in on the leaderboard. The top five vote-getting projects as of Wednesday morning:

1. Olive and June Floral Co.

2. Bard & Baker Board Game Cafe

3. Adirondack Barnwood Salvage

4. Call Sheilah!

5. Gannon's List

The full leaderboard with vote totals is below.

And the applications for those five -- and all the other projects -- are available for you to skim through at that link above. You'll see info about how to vote, too. It's easy.

There's still plenty of opportunity to vote -- crowd voting ends September 20 at noon. And in the past we've had some projects get a quick early start before being overtaken. A handful of votes can make a difference.

So if you haven't voted, go check out the entries and pick your favorites. And if you already have a favorite, take a few minutes to look through some of the entries to pick a second. As is the case every year, there are a bunch of interesting projects that are worth your attention.

Entries are posted in the order they're received, so it's worth getting in your app ahead of the deadline. The earlier it shows up here, the earlier it gets posted on the site, and the higher it appears in the listing. Those all might provide a little boost in the crowd voting.

Entries are posted here on AOA in the order they're received, so Rachael's app will be at the top of the list. The earlier you get your entry in, the earlier it will appear on the site -- and the higher it will appear in the listing. And that could help when crowd voting for two of the spots in the final opens September 11.

The contest is also an opportunity to get a look at some of the good ideas circulating just below the radar in our region and shine some attention on them. And of course, you get to help decide who gets the funding through the crowd vote for two of the finalists.

What's All Over Albany?

All Over Albany is for interested and interesting people in New York's Capital Region. In other words, it's for you. It's kind of like having a smart, savvy friend who can help you find out what's up. Oh, and our friends call us AOA.